Arroyo puts Basilan offensive on hold for 3 days for probe

 
By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 06:16pm (Mla time) 07/27/2007
 
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered punitive actions against the attackers who killed 14 Marines in Basilan on July 10 put on hold for three days to give way to an investigation by the a joint fact-finding team of the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front [...]

Read Full Post »

Palace to MILF, military: Shut up

 
Inquirer
Last updated 05:38pm (Mla time) 07/24/2007
 
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Shut up.
This was what Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said Tuesday in a statement addressed to both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the military.
Dureza said his call for a moratorium on public statements will enable the parties to tighten coordination and [...]

Read Full Post »

Basilan residents flee homes in fear of military action

 
By Nash Maulana, Edwin Fernandez, Jeoffrey Maitem
Mindanao Bureau
Last updated 05:34pm (Mla time) 07/21/2007
 
COTABATO CITY–At least 5,000 people in several villages of Albarka, Basilan have moved out of their homes ahead of the the military’s deadline, which expires on Saturday, for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to hand over suspects in the July 10 ambush [...]

Read Full Post »

MILF to military on Bossi: ‘We told you so’

By Jeoffrey Maitem
Inquirer
Last updated 02:04pm (Mla time) 07/20/2007
 
KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Friday said the release of Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi in Lanao del Norte proved the information they have been feeding to the military — but which was supposedly largely ignored — was correct after all.
Mohagher Iqbal, MILF [...]

Read Full Post »

MILF won’t surrender its men behind Basilan carnage

 

Mindanao Bureau
Last updated 04:57pm (Mla time) 07/19/2007
 
ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Thursday stood by its earlier statement it would not hand over to authorities those behind brutal attack on a convoy of Philippine Marines in Basilan, where 14 Marine soldiers were killed.
On Wednesday, Armed Forces chief General Hermogenes Esperon warned [...]

Read Full Post »

Malaysia agrees to send int’l team to probe Basilan incident

 
By Jeoffrey Maitem
Mindanao Bureau
Last updated 02:49pm (Mla time) 07/19/2007
 
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Malaysia has agreed to send a team of international monitors to investigate the July 10 clash in Basilan in which 10 of 14 Marines killed were beheaded and mutilated.
Jun Mantawil, head of the peace panel secretariat of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), [...]

Read Full Post »

Ermita: Tacurong blast HSA test; PNP: No, it’s extortion

 
By Michael Lim Ubac, Alcuin Papa
Inquirer
Last updated 03:34am (Mla time) 07/19/2007
 
MANILA, Philippines — The latest bomb attack in Tacurong City, which injured three persons, including a child, can be a test case for the controversial Human Security Act (HSA), Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Wednesday.
“[The law] can be used everywhere, anywhere,” Ermita said at a [...]

Read Full Post »

3 hurt as bomb explodes inside bus in Tacurong

 
Inquirer
Last updated 04:27pm (Mla time) 07/18/2007
 
TACURONG CITY, Philippines — Three persons were injured — including a child — when a bomb exploded inside a bus at the public transport terminal here around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, the police and military said.
Colonel Danilo Garcia, commander of the Army’s 604th Infantry Brigade, said the improvised bomb went off [...]

Read Full Post »

Poverty may push Moro women to acts of terror

 
By Nash Maulana, Jeoffrey Maitem
Mindanao Bureau
Last updated 05:07am (Mla time) 07/12/2007
 
COTABATO CITY — Poverty may push Moro women to commit crimes considered terrorist acts under the new Human Security Act, according to women leaders attending a forum here.
“A hungry mother or one who’s bothered by a hospitalized or unfed child will do anything when comes [...]

Read Full Post »

14 Marines killed; 10 were beheaded, MILF, Abu join forces in Basilan ambush

By Julie Alipala, Christine Avendaño
Mindanao Bureau, Inquirer
Last updated 02:32am (Mla time) 07/12/2007
 
LAMITAN CITY — They were returning to base in heavy rains after a fruitless search for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi when their trucks stalled in the mud. Then the firing began.
In a 10-hour gun battle that turned into a carnage, 14 Marines were killed [...]

Read Full Post »